TRADE AND MARKETING Qualituber supplies transparently-grown, basic seed to order ‘D eveloping basic seed involves spending a lot of money for things like more expensive planting stock and extra inspection and selection costs. Other aspects are shorter growing seasons and lower yield per hectare. Today, trading companies sometimes have as much as three-quarters of their high-performance material certified as user seed. This material brings in considerably less, so the income of the potato seed selectors is lower than if it were all sold in the S category. In addition, a third S category is needed to pep up the balance of three-quarters of basic seed. And that isn’t always possible’, Frank de Schutter knows from his own experience. This was something that bothered the enthusiastic potato seed selector, which is why he contacted Agroplant to discuss the possibilities of a better balance for basic seed. ‘As export manager at Agroplant, I see an increasing demand at home and abroad for top-quality disease-free planting stock. Buyers have a choice between mini tubers or seed’, is Sepers experience. ‘What you now also see a lot is that growers in other countries often use user seed as basic seed. The result is problems with the second growth, because user seed isn’t meant to be used in that way. You’ll get problems with second growth, because many areas have a high disease pressure. By offering a transparent system, where farmers know exactly where their basic seed is grown and what it costs to have it delivered, you can improve the marketing level in a new way’, Sepers explains. Transfer the cultivation risk ‘With Qualituber, we aim to grow the mini tubers again, to order, up to a level that the customer can immediately use. This means the customer transfers his cultivation risk to the professionals in the Netherlands. The high-quality potato seed selectors can have their expertise fully paid for’, is De Schutter’s view. The basis for proper S cultivation is healthy planting stock, which is why Qualituber has chosen mini tubers as their planting stock. For many years now, the Pothos Plant Company in the village of Honselersdijk has been growing mini tubers for a large number of trading companies in the Netherlands. Peter Olsthoorn, general manager of Pothos Plant, supplies the mini tubers to Qualituber to order. ‘Subsequently, we make disease-free “stocks” from the planting stock supplied by the various companies. For example, for a Russian customer we’ve developed fully disease-free stocks from the Nevski variety, which is an important local variety for them. The variety is currently being developed in the greenhouse. It’s important to note that this material is exclusively available to this customer’, Olsthoorn explains their transparency towards the customer. ‘As soon as the mini tubers are delivered to the potato seed selector, the customer – in this case the Russian grower – settles the bill with us’, Sepers adds. Fixed grower’s price ‘Qualituber is based on transparency’, Sepers emphasises. ‘We show how the generations are developed and how old they are. We do this with coloured indicators. Mini tubers are Gold, first-generation produced from mini tubers Blue, second field generation Green, third field generation Red. This is how we make the system transparent. Customers all over the world want to know what they’re buying, what quality they can expect, their usage, and what guarantees they can expect. One of the guarantees is that they know where the planting stock comes from. Customers are able to inspect their seed themselves during the growing season, because, after all, it’s theirs. We’re an organisation that is grower-oriented, and guarantees that we’ll supply 100 percent disease-free material. This is shown by PCR testing for viral and bacterial diseases. It’s therefore important that we work together with eminent potato stock selectors and most of these are situated in the northern clay-soil areas’, says De Schutter. ‘The potato seed selectors, who work with us, sign a contract and supply the agreed amount of seed after a few years. They’re paid a fixed amount per ton for 28 x 55 mm seed. To stimulate the growers to stick to the desired size as much as possible, they’re paid much less for over and undersized seed. We’re not mentioning the fixed grower’s price, because we’re not dealing with the price per kilogram, but the yield per hectare. The guaranteed marketing of 100 percent S seed provides the grower with a healthy balance of over twelve thousand euros per hectare. Moreover, you shouldn’t forget that the selector’s investment is lower, because he doesn’t have to pay for the mini tubers. After the agreed years of propagation, the entire yield goes to the customer’, Sepers explains. ‘Subsequently, we make disease-free “stocks” from the planting stock supplied by the various companies’, Peter Olsthoorn shows us. Professional buyers ‘Growing disease-free planting stock is the first step, which gives the customer the guarantee that he can have basic seed propagated risk free by the best growers in the Netherlands. In addition, he or she also needs to be professional enough to be able to grow basic seed, which means that we don’t accept every request. We’ll first go and talk with the interested farmer and check on the local situation. That’s important because this 30 Potato World 2013 • number 3 Pagina 29
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